Their name comes from a term that refers to Indian immigrants that move to England, in that they often own street corner stores. Their music is a fusion of Indian music, British indie rock, and electronic dance.

In the early 1990s, when popular singer Morrissey was being vilified by the UK music press (particularly the NME) for apparently being a racist, the band burned a picture of the singer outside the offices of EMI.

They were more widely noticed after the success of a Fatboy Slim remix of their song "Brimful of Asha", from their 1997 album ''When I Was Born for the 7th Time''. The song was a tribute to the prolific Indian playback singer, Asha Bhosle, and the entire Indian music industry in general.

In 1999 they released a disco inspired album ''Disco and the Halfway to Discontent'' as part of their side-project, Clinton.